


Drag

by ShadowSelene (Shadowdianne)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, just playing it safe I guess, the t rating is majorly because of the smoking happening here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-04 04:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18336302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowdianne/pseuds/ShadowSelene
Summary: And oo, speaking of smoking, how about Regina catches Emma smoking on an equally stressful day and joins her?Asked by emettkaysworld back at tumblr





	Drag

**Author's Note:**

> (Not featured: Me spending 30 minutes ranting about “the” Skins scene after this with Emett here.)
> 
> (Also; while I smoke I don’t plan on romanticizing smoking on itself, but I hope to create some scenery here. Still… smoking is bad for one’s health, tread carefully etcetc)
> 
>  
> 
> Set in: Frozen arc. 4x05. After the last scene at the vault.

The sound of crickets surrounded her as she walked out of the vault, the moon already hanging low but full up in the sky and, despite the cold, Emma could feel heat radiating from her fingers, making her skin tingle, as she sighed deeply, the words she had just said still ricocheting within her.

She had meant them, every single one, but she still stumbled against a root, far too anxious to truly focus on where she was going, jittery energy filling her up. She had been thinking about Lily, about what had meant, but she wouldn’t have considered the possibility of being so upfront with Regina; to even have that opportunity.

Sucking on her breath, she hugged herself as she halted a few meters away from the nearest tombs, the unmarked ones, the ones full of people that weren’t truly from there. Skin at the nape of her neck prickling, she felt her magic bubble and sizzle, once more too strong for her.

Growling softly, she fiddled with the zipper of one of her pockets, extracting a packet. One she wasn’t entirely proud of having but one she had found battered and half-opened in one of the boxes she had never got around to re-open and had found herself unable to throw it away. The tobacco was far too dry after weeks of been poorly kept away; of that much she was certain, but it didn’t stop her from picking one of the pre-made cigarettes she guessed she had rolled back at New York, the twisted tip still perfectly sealed, the white of the paper just barely wrinkled.

Bringing it to her lips, lighting it up after a few tries of an equally battered lighter, she inhaled until her throat and mouth burned with the nicotine, the tip of her tongue protesting as she exhaled, redirecting the flow through her nose. A trick she had learnt years ago, an almost teen. Before Neal, after Lily.

Lily.

The skin on her tattoo felt tender; just as it had felt after the tattoo and she needed all her willpower to not look at it, almost expecting to see it seeping ink. Fortunately, the trick seemed to aid with her magic, calming it, assuaging it, as she took a second try at the cig. Not enough, she guessed, but close enough.

She could feel her boots beginning to dampen, the residual humidity that covered the soil at her feet all much more prominent ever since the Queen -the two of them, she guessed- had made an appearance. And as much as she felt connected with Elsa she ruled out the idea of trying to talk to her as she felt guilt beginning to leak out of her once more, her right hand holding the cigarette with two fingers, letting it dangle from them as she kept her other arm still close to her in a half-hug, fingers there curling and clinging to the fabric of the white sweater she wore beneath the jacket.

“You may be happy that I don’t want to kill you, but I doubt that thing won’t have the same doubts on that that I do.”

Regina’s voice echoed at her back, softly, and Emma shrugged as she turned, still not entirely sure how to respond to the brunette’s presence. She had already been much more open that she often was with Regina and she hadn’t expected the brunette to follow her outside. Specially with how easy the brunette could simple poof herself away.

_“It’s a start.”_  She had said that with a smile and far too many nerves clinging into her chest and Regina had said nothing at it but purse her lips as she had tried to hide another small smile. One that felt almost too juvenile for her. One Emma had found missing out the soon Regina had been able to school her features entirely, the sharp lines of the blazer she wore framing her against the now empty mirror at her back.

Looking down at the cigarette, at the glowing bright tip and the slowly mounting ash on top of the burning ember, she flicked the excess with a quick movement of her wrist, her index tapping its foot. Regina’s eyes were trained on her by the time she looked up once again, head tilted, eyes unreadable once more.

Emma had grown accustomed to the almost exploding sensation her magic brought within her but she bit down on her bottom lip as Regina’s reached for hers. An unconscious act, she was sure of it. Not like Regina made a point of losing the reigns of her powers. Blinking, she realized that she could very well answer at the soft jibe. One that wasn’t laced with anger and loss.

“A bad habit, I know.” She rose the cigarette to her lips once more, drawing the smoke out in a less extreme fashion than the first time. This time the burn didn’t come as strong, but she still felt the itch at the back of her throat; the mix of the definitely far too dry tobacco and the weeks she had spent not smoking paying it off. “It’s just that…”

She didn’t finish the sentence, knowing that every reason she could say was nothing but an excuse. One Regina would be more than able to point out with a simple raising of her brow. Tip of her tongue pressed against the back of her teeth, the blonde sighed and rose her shoulders in a half shrug, feeling her lips curve in a too lopsided smile. One that she could almost sworn Regina replied to before the brunette looked away.

“I’m sorry, I…”

“Give me that.”

Emma blinked as Regina rose one hand, obviously directed at the cigarette. There was only a half of it left but the blonde complied, far too stunned. She felt even more surprised when Regina clasped it with both thumb and index, her fingers touching Emma’s, before she brought it to her mouth, lips a perfect “o” as she expelled the resulting smoke.

“You are not the only one with bad habits, dear.”

The term of endearment had been one Emma had linked to Regina ever since the beginning and she had heard it enough directed at both people Regina wanted harm to those she cared for but this time the brunette’s voice sounded warm rather than angry and Emma felt a blush crawling up her neck as she started to fiddle with her now empty hands, ironing invisible wrinkles at the front of her jacket, clasping its edges.

“You said you were an idiot, before. I was also stubborn.” Regina’s voice was slightly deeper, and Emma wondered if it could be for the smoke or the way tense lines now marred the sides of the woman’s eyes; tiredness coloring her eyes in purple. With a startle she realized that the constant buzz of her own magic was silent now. She eyed the brunette, halfway considering if the older woman was the reason for that but Regina didn’t say anything about it; merely closing her eyes for a moment before taking another drag of the cigarette before offering to her once more.

Emma picked it, dirty-white colored magic coming out of her fingers, dissolving into something that looked almost pale gold.

“I was too.”

Regina’s chuckle echoed through the woods and Emma felt heat mounting on her ears at that sound.

“That’s an understatement.”

Scoffing, Emma took another slow drag, the heat of the almost finished cigarette touching the back of her fingers as she did so. Regina eyes her as she let the smoke escape through her nose once more, the burn of it making Emma blink, eyes dry. When Regina spoke again she took a few steps closer to Emma, circling her and stopping just a few inches away, shoulders brushing together.

“I understand you, Emma.” There was no “Swan” there, no echo of bitterness and Emma swallowed thickly, unsure. “I’m not sure that that makes us both special but… I understand you.”

It seemed like Regina was talking about something else, something more. Just like Lily had been something else, something more, than just a friend but Emma reigned over those thoughts just as quickly as they appeared. With a nod and a final smile Regina turned and rose her hands in a less dramatic move she had done before, mauve colored magic enveloping her.

_“I always have.”_


End file.
